A surprise announcement came from Lucasfilm and Disney today revealing that Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow would no longer be directing Star Wars: Episode IX. This comes barely a month after it was revealed that the script written by Trevorrow and his writing partner was getting a new treatment. The brief announcement doesn’t delve into any sort of detail of course as it simply reads:

“Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.“

The statement itself is pretty predictable as far as it boils down to there being some kind of irreconcilable creative differences occurring between Lucasfilm and Trevorrow – it seems to be the standard PR move these days almost any time a director unexpectedly leaves or is removed from such a high profile film. What’s troubling about Trevorrow’s exit from the film though, is that it’s just the latest in a string of problems that have arisen in recent years between Lucasfilm and the directorial talent they hire.

Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm they’ve parted ways with Josh Trank who was in line to helm a spin-off title – generally believed to have been a Boba Fett film – and then more recently Phil Lord and Chris Miller left the untitled young Han Solo film leaving Ron Howard to step in. Not to mention the Gareth Edwards directed Rogue One faced extensive reshoots that were largely handled by Tony Gilroy. Now, yet again they’ve found themselves down a director with Trevorrow leaving Episode IX. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If they’re not right for the job, they’re not right for the job, but it does make you wonder why Lucasfilm apparently keeps hiring the wrong directors.

While a replacement has yet to be announced, Rian Johnson and J.J. Abrams are undoubtedly in the conversation. Johnson has even previously expressed some desire to see the trilogy through to the end following his experience shooting The Last Jedi. Even as recently as July The Last Jedi director tweeted that he would definitely be down to do another Star Wars movie.

I would do another SW movie in a heartbeat. I've had the time of my life.

In any case, we’ll have to wait for Lucasfilm to announce who will be replacing Trevorrow as the director for Episode IX. Unlike the Lord & Miller’s departure from the young Han Solo film which was already in production, Episode IX isn’t supposed to start filming until the beginning of 2018 so Lucasfilm has a little more time to find their replacement.

Star Wars: Episode IX Loses Director Colin Trevorrow

The decision is apparently mutual as the Jurassic World director and Lucasfilm had different visions for the film.

A surprise announcement came from Lucasfilm and Disney today revealing that Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow would no longer be directing Star Wars: Episode IX. This comes barely a month after it was revealed that the script written by Trevorrow and his writing partner was getting a new treatment. The brief announcement doesn’t delve into any sort of detail of course as it simply reads:

“Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.“

The statement itself is pretty predictable as far as it boils down to there being some kind of irreconcilable creative differences occurring between Lucasfilm and Trevorrow – it seems to be the standard PR move these days almost any time a director unexpectedly leaves or is removed from such a high profile film. What’s troubling about Trevorrow’s exit from the film though, is that it’s just the latest in a string of problems that have arisen in recent years between Lucasfilm and the directorial talent they hire.

Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm they’ve parted ways with Josh Trank who was in line to helm a spin-off title – generally believed to have been a Boba Fett film – and then more recently Phil Lord and Chris Miller left the untitled young Han Solo film leaving Ron Howard to step in. Not to mention the Gareth Edwards directed Rogue One faced extensive reshoots that were largely handled by Tony Gilroy. Now, yet again they’ve found themselves down a director with Trevorrow leaving Episode IX. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If they’re not right for the job, they’re not right for the job, but it does make you wonder why Lucasfilm apparently keeps hiring the wrong directors.

While a replacement has yet to be announced, Rian Johnson and J.J. Abrams are undoubtedly in the conversation. Johnson has even previously expressed some desire to see the trilogy through to the end following his experience shooting The Last Jedi. Even as recently as July The Last Jedi director tweeted that he would definitely be down to do another Star Wars movie.

I would do another SW movie in a heartbeat. I've had the time of my life.

In any case, we’ll have to wait for Lucasfilm to announce who will be replacing Trevorrow as the director for Episode IX. Unlike the Lord & Miller’s departure from the young Han Solo film which was already in production, Episode IX isn’t supposed to start filming until the beginning of 2018 so Lucasfilm has a little more time to find their replacement.